West Virginia University researchers receive NSF funding to support student diversity in engineering and computer science

Karen Rambo-Hernandez, Melissa Morris and Robin Hensel

Morgantown, WV—

West Virginia University researchers have been awarded a five-year, $2 million
grant from the National Science Foundation to improve classroom experiences for engineering
and computer science students.

“The
overarching purpose is that we want to develop inclusive professional
identities in our students,” said Karen
Rambo-Hernandez, an assistant professor at the WVU College of Education and
Human Services and the project’s principal investigator. “Engineers and
computer scientists who possess this inclusive professional identity are
excellent in their technical skills, recognize the need for diversity within
their field, and behave in ways that welcome people from many different
backgrounds.”

Unlike
other similar programs for first-year engineering students that focus only on keeping
diverse students in engineering, WVU’s program seeks to educate all students
about the importance of diversity. In this way, Rambo-Hernandez and her team
hope to encourage students from different backgrounds to stay in the field
while preparing all students to be productive team members in their future
careers.

“We
supplement valuable programs that support traditionally underrepresented
students by trying to expand and work with all students, so that all students
value and behave in ways that make sure the diverse viewpoints are not only
present but heard and valued,” Rambo-Hernandez said.

Rambo-Hernandez
is joined in this endeavor by colleagues from the Benjamin M. Statler College
of Engineering and Mineral Resources. Her co-principal investigators are Melissa
Morris, a teaching associate professor for the freshman engineering
program, and Robin
Hensel, assistant dean for freshman experience.

Morris
and Hensel will help Rambo-Hernandez implement and evaluate classroom
activities for first-year engineering students that enhance the students’
abilities to work successfully in teams.

“The
purpose of the grant was to design activities for first-year engineering
classes to help them behave more inclusively when they’re working within teams
and to see that diversity actually improves products and teamwork,”
Rambo-Hernandez said.

One
of these activities will involve a theatre troupe that comes to the class to
perform a skit that demonstrates a dysfunctional team and asks the audience to
improve the team’s functionality.

“The
students get to intervene and explain what the actors could have done better,”
Rambo-Hernandez said.

To
alleviate the cost of hiring a professional theatre troupe for this portion of
the project, Rambo-Hernandez and her colleagues have enlisted the help of Irene Alby, a
teaching assistant professor of acting and directing at the WVU College of
Creative Arts. Alby and a group of her students will be trained to act out this
performance, which will be followed by a debrief session with trained
discussion group leaders from the WVU ADVANCE Center.

As
defined in this project, diversity constitutes identities and different ways of
thinking and problem-solving that lend to the ultimate success of an
engineering project.

“It’s
a matter of cognitive diversity and physical diversity,” Rambo-Hernandez said.
“Somebody who might look like you but who is raised in a different way is going
to bring something unique to the table.”

For
the next phase, the researchers are expanding upon their initial work by
incorporating additional campuses in the study, adding sophomore- and
junior-level engineering courses, and including computer science students.

This
project is in collaboration with Christina Paguyo from the University of Denver
and KarRebecca Atadero from Colorado State University. Of the $2 million
received, WVU will be allotted $750,000 to implement the program in its engineering
and computer science courses. The University’s students will benefit from this
grant beginning with four courses in the fall of 2017, and the unique
activities will expand to all first-year engineering courses in 2018, and
sophomore and junior classes in later years of the grant.

“We’re
trying to show all of our students that we need them in engineering, and that
we’re going to support them in it,” Rambo-Hernandez said.

-WVU-

For more information on news and events in the West Virginia University Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources: